The below-average and erratic rainfall across much of the region has negatively impacted crop development. Maize crops, accounting for nearly 65 percent of the region's cereal production, are only in the reproductive or vegetative stages in rainfall-deficit areas across the region. Southern Africa Food Security Alert: February 1, 2019 ([FEWS NET, 1/2/2019](https://reliefweb.int/node/2976893))